Part 1
I was excited for my recent trip to Paso Robles for a long weekend of wine tasting and a day along the Pacific coast, because it always feels a little bit like coming home when I return to California.
I spent almost 15 years living in the Bay Area, not too far from the Napa Valley. It’s where I discovered and fell in love with wine, not just drinking it, but exploring wineries and vineyards and meeting the people who were growing the grapes and making the wines. I became captivated by it.
When I lived here, Paso Robles was not a world-famous wine region with over one million annual visitors and 200+ wineries. Back then, on the drive between San Francisco and Los Angeles on Highway 101, it was a place to stop for gas and a cold drink. The hills and winding roads surrounding the town were scattered with cattle ranches and lined with groves of walnut and almond trees. It is dramatically different now.
While the Central Coast of California is half the country away from the Hill Country of Central Texas, in my experience the two places share a lot in common. From the charm and relaxed atmosphere of its ranching and farming roots to the modern vibe and new energy you sense everywhere you go; it feels a lot like the Texas Hill Country these days.
The Paso Robles AVA, established in 1983, at over 600,000 acres with currently about 40,000 acres planted,
This Article was originally published on Texas Wine Lover
